Dutch skaters find the ice is right at Khuvsgul Lake

KHOVSGOL LAKE, Mongolia, March 22 (Reuters) - Luke Distelhorst 

The quest for high-quality ice took 150 Dutch skaters nearly 7,000 km to the frozen north of Mongolia last weekend for an event which has its roots in a centuries-old race around the Netherlands.It would be hard to find more of a contrast with the quaint villages and towns of northern Europe than Khovsgol Lake, set in one of the world's least densely populated areas and surrounded by 3,000-metre mountains.An amateur offshoot of the historic Elf Steden Tocht or 11-City race in Friesland, northern Netherlands, the 200-km Winter Marathon targets non-professional skaters and has been held annually since 1974.

The increasingly variable freeze cycles back home, however, have forced organisers to look further and further afield for more reliable ice.

"The winters in Holland only allow long-distance skating once every five or six years now," said Daniel Rooijackers, director of Footsteps Asia, one of the organisers of the event.

Although the race has been held in eight countries over the last 30 years or so, the decision to travel across two continents to one of the most remote regions in the world did not come easily.

"When we first approached the Winter Marathon directors about holding the race in Mongolia, the first thing they said was, 'Mongolia!? No, never!'," D. Gantomor, director of Active Adventure Tours said at the end of the race on Sunday.

"But the conditions of the ice in Mongolia and the exotic and cultural atmospheres overwhelmed them."

So last weekend, a hardy bunch of Dutchmen and women, together with a handful of locals, raced for two days around a special 9.1-km track on clear blue ice under equally blue skies in moderate daytime temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius.

"Normally the Winter Marathon is 200km in one day," said Wiebe Barkey, vice president of the Winter Marathon Organisation.

"However we were worried about Mongolia's tendency to have high winds which can really tire the skaters out and can make it dangerous, so we did it in two days."

VAST EXPANSE

According to a Dutch observer, at the 11-City race people line the entire route through the towns and villages, screaming for their favourite skaters.

In Mongolia the racers, wearing fur hats and face masks, were greeted only by the vast expanse of the 2,760-square-kilometre lake and the sound made by the grinding of precision-made skates on the hard, translucent ice which was a metre-and-a-half thick.

"I've skated in nine previous winter marathons in eight countries and this was by far the best," said Harry Bakker, the mayor of a small Dutch village who used his vacation to come to Mongolia. "We never expected it to be so nice."

Since Mongolia's transition to a market economy in 1990, increasing dependence on its mineral resources has forced the government to try to diversify their international businesses.

Such is the importance of any potential tourist income that Mongolia's President Nambariin Enkhbayar was present at the opening ceremony of the race.

He was unable to resist the allure of the lake's blue-tinted ice and said he would skate the first 100km but an unsuccessful quest for the right-size skates stopped him.

What crowds there were cheered on the Mongolian skaters, who were mostly using broken or unsuitable equipment and some of whom had never speed-skated before.

UNIQUE EXPERIENCES

One Mongolian skater appeared to be on the verge of collapse near the end but was determined to continue.

"Of course I'm tired, but this is where I am from and I need to make our people proud," he gasped while drinking tea at a rest stop. "Plus I only have two more laps."

Organisers were delighted by the participation of the locals, which contributed to the air of goodwill around the weekend.

"The experiences we've had in Mongolia have been totally unique and some of the best we've ever had in the 31 years of organising these events," said Barkey.

Race officials have now offered to help top Mongolian skater Baasan Luvsandorj to go to the Netherlands for training in preparation for a shot at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Luvsandorj, who competed in three speed skating races at the 2007 Asian Winter Games in China in January, might even have found a place to stay.

"These are the nicest people I've ever met," one Dutch participant said. "I would definitely open up my house to any Mongolian skater trying to train in Holland."

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